Openings in a blower housing for noise reduction

ABSTRACT

A fan arrangement for a heat exchanger of a motor vehicle, a system for a motor vehicle, and a motor vehicle. A fan is arranged downstream of the heat exchanger in an air supply direction. The fan is arranged in a fan cowling which covers an air passage area of the heat exchanger and which is arranged spaced from the heat exchanger in an axial direction and coupled to the heat exchanger via a sealing part. A plurality of air passages having openings are arranged opposite each other in the sealing part. The dimensions of the air passage openings in a direction perpendicular to the air supply direction, in relation to the peripheral area of the sealing part, is at least a factor of 0.025 of the diameter of the fan, and the dimensions of the air passage openings in the direction of the air supply, is at least 0.0025 of the diameter of the fan.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority 35 U.S.C. §119 to German PatentPublication No. DE 10 2012 222 259.6 (filed on Dec. 4, 2012), which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments relate to A fan arrangement for a heat exchanger of a motorvehicle, a system for a motor vehicle, and a motor vehicle. A fan isarranged downstream of the heat exchanger in an air supply direction.The fan is arranged in a fan cowling which covers an air passage area ofthe heat exchanger and which is arranged spaced from the heat exchangerin an axial direction and coupled to the heat exchanger via a sealingpart. A plurality of air passages having openings are arranged oppositeeach other in the sealing part. The dimensions of the air passageopenings in a direction perpendicular to the air supply direction, inrelation to the peripheral area of the sealing part, is at least afactor of 0.025 of the diameter of the fan, and the dimensions of theair passage openings in the direction of the air supply, is at least0.0025 of the diameter of the fan.

BACKGROUND

In motor vehicles with internal combustion engines, the waste heatproduced by the internal combustion engine is emitted to the surroundingatmosphere by a heat exchanger or radiator. In vehicles withfront-mounted engines, the heat exchanger is installed at the front inthe direction of travel and is supplied with fresh air via radiatorgrille openings. In addition a fan is arranged downstream of the heatexchanger and generates an air flow through the heat exchanger. This isnecessary in particular at low travel speed since the fresh air suppliedat low speed causes only a correspondingly low heat dissipation.

German Patent Publication DE 198 49 035 A1 discloses a sound absorptiondevice for the air supply in a construction machine. A plate-like soundinsulation is provided in the region of the air supply.

German Patent Publication DE 34 46 950 C1 discloses a heat exchangerwith fan frame and fan. A roller blind is arranged in the region of thefan frame.

German Patent Publication DE 78 18 243 U1 discloses a defined peripheralgap in front of the fan. This peripheral gap is intended to counter anoise development. Such an air supply is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,701,854A and German Patent Publication DE 10 2008 046 508 A1.

German Patent Publication DE 10 2004 018 036 A1 discoses openings ofwidely varying types in the fan housing outside the fan circle.

French Patent Publication FR 2 816 360 discloses such openings in thefan housing, wherein in the arrangement described, the fan is located infront of the heat exchanger in the direction of travel.

German Patent Publication DE 10 2005 062 366 A1 discloses a targetedarrangement of impact pressure valves in the front plate between thefans. The air flowing into the fan housing region at high speed isdiverted by these valves.

U.S. Patent Publication 2003/0183446 A1 discloses a fan collar for a fanof a thermal management system for motor vehicles. To reduce noise, thefan collar has openings surrounding the fan. The noise reduction isbased on the principle of a Helmholtz resonator.

German Patent Publication DE 34 14 609 C1 discloses a fan with upstreamheat exchanger and a controllable opening on the underside of an airguide housing. This opening serves to divert air.

German Patent Publication DE 10 2007 017 875 A1 discloses a fan cowlingfor industrial drive systems, for example. To reduce the sound emission,the cowling has slots which prevent the transmission of body-borne soundin the cowling. The dimensions of the slots are specifically selectedfor their effect on body-borne sound, the axial extension of the slotsis defined in relation to the distance of a connecting region from theedge of the fan cowling.

German Patent Publication DE 100 19 237 A1 discloses a damper materialfor noise reduction.

German Patent Publication DE 69 837 088 T2 discloses slots arrangedbehind each other in the fan housing and extending around the fanperiphery serve for noise damping.

SUMMARY

Embodiments relate to a fan arrangement with an enhanced design incomparison with conventional solutions, in particular with regard tosound emission.

In accordance with embodiments, a fan arrangement for a heat exchangerof a motor vehicle, the fan arrangement including at least one of: a fancowling spaced from the heat exchanger in an air supply direction andwhich covers an air passage area of the heat exchanger; a sealing partwhich couples the fan cowling to the heat exchanger; a fan arranged inthe fan cowling downstream of the heat exchanger in the air supplydirection; a plurality of upper air passages arranged at a lower regionof the sealing part; and a plurality of lower air passages arranged atan upper region of the sealing part and arranged spatially opposite tothe upper air passages, wherein an opening of each of the upper andlower air passages is sized such that in a direction perpendicular tothe air supply direction is at least 0.025 of the diameter of the fan,and in a direction of the air supply, is at least 0.0025 of the diameterof the fan.

In accordance with embodiments, a system for a motor vehicle may includeat least one of: a heat exchanger; and a fan arrangement for the heatexchanger, the fan arrangement including a fan cowling spaced from theheat exchanger in an air supply direction and which covers an airpassage area of the heat exchanger; a sealing part which couples the fancowling to the heat exchanger; a fan arranged in the fan cowlingdownstream of the heat exchanger in the air supply direction; aplurality of upper air passages arranged at a lower region of thesealing part; and a plurality of lower air passages arranged at an upperregion of the sealing part and arranged spatially opposite to the upperair passages, wherein an opening of each of the upper and lower airpassages is sized such that in a direction perpendicular to the airsupply direction is at least 0.025 of the diameter of the fan, and in adirection of the air supply, is at least 0.0025 of the diameter of thefan.

In accordance with embodiments, a motor vehicle may include at least oneof: a heat exchanger; and a fan arrangement for the heat exchanger, thefan arrangement including a fan cowling spaced from the heat exchangerin an air supply direction and which covers an air passage area of theheat exchanger; a sealing part which couples the fan cowling to the heatexchanger; a fan arranged in the fan cowling downstream of the heatexchanger in the air supply direction; a plurality of upper air passagesarranged at a lower region of the sealing part; and a plurality of lowerair passages arranged at an upper region of the sealing part andarranged spatially opposite to the upper air passages, wherein anopening of each of the upper and lower air passages is sized such thatin a direction perpendicular to the air supply direction is at least0.025 of the diameter of the fan, and in a direction of the air supply,is at least 0.0025 of the diameter of the fan.

In accordance with embodiments, a fan arrangement is provided for a heatexchanger of a motor vehicle, in which a fan is arranged downstream ofthe heat exchanger in the air supply direction, the fan being arrangedin a fan cowling which substantially covers the air passage area of theheat exchanger, the fan cowling being arranged spaced from the heatexchanger in an axial direction, the direction of the air flow, and thefan cowling being coupled to the heat exchanger via a sealing part,wherein in each case at least two air passage openings are arrangedopposite each other in the sealing part.

In accordance with embodiments, the at least two air passage openingsmay lie spatially above and below the fan.

In accordance with embodiments, the air passage openings may be formedas slots.

In accordance with embodiments, the air passage openings have structuraldimensions that include the axial dimension being in an axial directionof the fan, and the lateral dimension being in a lateral directioncorrespondingly perpendicular thereto, i.e., in particular, a directionin a peripheral direction of the fan.

In accordance with embodiments, the slots in the lateral direction haveat least a factor of 0.025 of the diameter of the fan. At maximum, theslot in the lateral direction extends by 1/10 of the diameter of thefan.

In accordance with embodiments, the dimension of the slots in the axialdirection is at least 0.0025 of the diameter of the fan, wherein themaximum extension in the axial direction is the dimension of thetransition region in the axial direction plus the length of the fan inthe axial direction.

In accordance with embodiments, the air passage openings may have anarbitrary form to allow good adaptability to the design of the fancowling. In this regard, an air passage opening may have an areaproportion of at least 0.0000625 of the air passage area of the fan.

DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be illustrated by way of example in the drawings andexplained in the description below.

FIG. 1 illustrates a heat exchanger of a motor vehicle in a top view, inaccordance with embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a heat exchanger of a motor vehicle in a top view, inaccordance with embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a heat exchanger of a motor vehicle in a top view, inaccordance with embodiments.

DESCRIPTION

As illustrated in FIG. 1, provided is a heat exchanger WT of a motorvehicle in a top view. A fan V is arranged downstream of the heatexchanger WT in the direction of travel of the motor vehicle. The fan Vis rotatably mounted or otherwise received in a fan cowling LH, the fancowling LH surrounding the periphery of the rotatable parts of the fan Vand as, for example, an element having a flat cross-section, covers theperipheral air passage area of the heat exchanger WT. The fan cowling LHis assigned in a spaced manner to the heat exchanger WT in the axialflow direction, i.e., the direction of the air flow (denoted by arrows).The transition between the fan cowling LH and the heat exchanger WT issurrounded by a peripheral sealing part DT, via which the fan cowling LHis coupled to the heat exchanger. The air flowing through the heatexchanger WT is thus fed to and/or aspirated by the fan V.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the fan cowling LH and theperipheral sealing part DT, which couples the cowling to the heatexchanger WT, form a unit which is structural configured as a commoncomponent. Embodiments are not restricted to such, and thus, forexample, the sealing part DT and the fan cowling LH may be separatecomponents.

A plurality of lower air passage openings LD, such as, for example, apair of lower air passage openings LD, may be spatially arranged belowthe fan V in the sealing part DT. These lower air passage openings arethus arranged in the lower part of the sealing part DT. The lower airpassage openings LD may be arranged having geometric shapes and/or sizesthat are essentially the same as the other and/or adjacent lower airpassage openings.

A plurality of upper air passage openings LD, such as, for example, apair of upper air passage openings LD, may be spatially arranged abovethe fan V, i.e., in an upper region of the sealing part DT. The upperair passage openings LD may be arranged having geometric shapes and/orsizes that are essentially the same as the other and/or adjacent upperair passage openings.

The upper and lower air passage openings LD, are thus, spatiallyarranged opposite each other in the sealing part DT. The spatiallyorientation terms “above” and “below” are here understood in relation tothe direction of air supply and travel of the motor vehicle.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, provided is a heat exchanger WT of a motorvehicle in a top view. A fan V is arranged downstream of the heatexchanger WT in the direction of travel of the motor vehicle. The fan Vis rotatably mounted or otherwise received in a fan cowling LH, the fancowling LH surrounding the periphery of the rotatable parts of the fan Vand as, for example, an element having a flat cross-section, covers theperipheral air passage area of the heat exchanger WT. The fan cowling LHis assigned in a spaced manner to the heat exchanger WT in the axialflow direction, i.e., the direction of the air flow (denoted by arrows).The transition between the fan cowling LH and the heat exchanger WT issurrounded by a peripheral sealing part DT, via which the fan cowling LHis coupled to the heat exchanger. The air flowing through the heatexchanger WT is thus fed to and/or aspirated by the fan V.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the fan cowling LH and theperipheral sealing part DT, which couples the cowling to the heatexchanger WT, form a unit which is structural configured as a commoncomponent. Embodiments are not restricted to such, and thus, forexample, the sealing part DT and the fan cowling LH may be separatecomponents.

A plurality of lower air passage openings LD, such as, for example, fourlower air passage openings LD, may be spatially arranged below the fan Vin the sealing part DT. These lower air passage openings are thusarranged in the lower part of the sealing part DT. The lower air passageopenings LD may be arranged having geometric shapes and/or sizes thatare essentially the same as the other and/or adjacent lower air passageopenings.

A plurality of upper air passage openings LD, such as, for example, fourupper air passage openings LD, may be spatially arranged above the fanV, i.e., in an upper region of the sealing part DT. The upper airpassage openings LD may be arranged having geometric shapes and/or sizesthat are essentially the same as the other and/or adjacent upper airpassage openings.

The upper and lower air passage openings LD, are thus, spatiallyarranged opposite each other in the sealing part DT. The spatiallyorientation terms “above” and “below” are here understood in relation tothe direction of air supply and travel of the motor vehicle.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, provided is a heat exchanger WT of a motorvehicle in a top view. A fan V is arranged downstream of the heatexchanger WT in the direction of travel of the motor vehicle. The fan Vis rotatably mounted or otherwise received in a fan cowling LH, the fancowling LH surrounding the periphery of the rotatable parts of the fan Vand as, for example, an element having a flat cross-section, covers theperipheral air passage area of the heat exchanger WT. The fan cowling LHis assigned in a spaced manner to the heat exchanger WT in the axialflow direction, i.e., the direction of the air flow (denoted by arrows).The transition between the fan cowling LH and the heat exchanger WT issurrounded by a peripheral sealing part DT, via which the fan cowling LHis coupled to the heat exchanger. The air flowing through the heatexchanger WT is thus fed to and/or aspirated by the fan V.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the fan cowling LH and theperipheral sealing part DT, which couples the cowling to the heatexchanger WT, form a unit which is structural configured as a commoncomponent. Embodiments are not restricted to such, and thus, forexample, the sealing part DT and the fan cowling LH may be separatecomponents.

A plurality of lower air passage openings LD, such as, for example, fivelower air passage openings LD, may be spatially arranged below the fan Vin the sealing part DT. The lower air passage openings LD are arrangedhaving geometric shapes and/or sizes that differ from each other and/oradjacent lower air passage openings.

A plurality of upper air passage openings LD, such as, for example, fiveupper air passage openings LD, may be spatially arranged above the fanV, i.e., in an upper region of the sealing part DT. The upper airpassage openings LD are arranged having geometric shapes and/or sizesthat differ from each other and/or adjacent upper air passage openings.

The upper and lower air passage openings LD may be spatially arrangedopposite each other in the sealing part DT, or may be arranged to notoverlap each other. The spatially orientation terms “above” and “below”are here understood in relation to the direction of air supply andtravel of the motor vehicle.

In accordance with embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the air passageopenings LD may have structural dimensions that include the axialdimension being in an axial direction of the fan, and the lateraldimension being in a lateral direction correspondingly perpendicularthereto, i.e., in particular, a direction in a peripheral direction ofthe fan. Each opening LD in the lateral direction may have at least afactor of 0.025 of the diameter of the fan V. At maximum, each openingLD in the lateral direction may extend by 1/10 of the diameter of thefan. The dimension of each opening LD in the axial direction may have afactor of at least 0.0025 of the diameter of the fan V, in which themaximum extension in the axial direction is the dimension of thetransition region in the axial direction plus the length of the fan V inthe axial direction.

In accordance with embodiments, the air passage openings LD may have anarbitrary form to allow good adaptability to the design of the fancowling LH. In this regard, an air passage opening LD may have an areaproportion of at least 0.0000625 of the air passage area of the fan V.

The term “coupled” or “connected” may be used herein to refer to anytype of relationship, direct or indirect, between the components inquestion, and may apply to electrical, mechanical, fluid, optical,electromagnetic, electromechanical or other connections. In addition,the terms “first,” “second,” etc. are used herein only to facilitatediscussion, and carry no particular temporal or chronologicalsignificance unless otherwise indicated.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate from the foregoing descriptionthat the broad techniques of the embodiments may be implemented in avariety of forms. Therefore, while the embodiments have been describedin connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of theembodiments should not be so limited since other modifications willbecome apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of thedrawings, specification, and following claims.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

V Fan

WT Heat exchanger

LH Fan cowling

DT Sealing part, sealing portion

LD Air passage opening

What is claimed is:
 1. A fan arrangement for a heat exchanger of a motorvehicle, the fan arrangement comprising: a fan cowling spaced from theheat exchanger in an air supply direction and which covers an airpassage area of the heat exchanger; a sealing part which couples the fancowling to the heat exchanger; and a fan arranged in the fan cowlingdownstream of the heat exchanger in the air supply direction; aplurality of upper air passages arranged at a lower region of thesealing part; and a plurality of lower air passages arranged at an upperregion of the sealing part and arranged spatially opposite to the upperair passages, wherein an opening of each of the upper and lower airpassages is sized such that: in a direction perpendicular to the airsupply direction is at least 0.025 of the diameter of the fan; and in adirection of the air supply, is at least 0.0025 of the diameter of thefan.
 2. The fan arrangement of claim 1, wherein the upper air passagesare arranged spatially above fan.
 3. The fan arrangement of claim 1,wherein the lower air passages are arranged spatially below fan.
 4. Thefan arrangement of claim 1, wherein: the upper air passages are arrangedspatially above fan; and the lower air passages are arranged spatiallybelow fan.
 5. The fan arrangement of claim 1, wherein the openings ofadjacent upper air passages part have different sizes and/or shapes. 6.The fan arrangement of claim 1, wherein the openings of adjacent lowerair passages part have different sizes and/or shapes.
 7. The fanarrangement of claim 1, wherein: the openings of adjacent upper airpassages part have different sizes and/or shapes; and the openings ofadjacent upper air passages part have different sizes and/or shapes 8.The fan arrangement of claim 1, wherein the opening of each of the upperand lower air passages is sized such that in a direction perpendicularto the air supply direction is at a maximum of 1/10 of the diameter ofthe fan.
 9. The fan arrangement of claim 1, wherein the opening of eachof the upper and lower air passages have an area proportion of at least0.0000625 of an air passage area of the fan.
 10. A system for a motorvehicle, the system comprising: a heat exchanger; a fan arrangement forthe heat exchanger, the fan arrangement including: a fan cowling spacedfrom the heat exchanger in an air supply direction and which covers anair passage area of the heat exchanger; a sealing part which couples thefan cowling to the heat exchanger; a fan arranged in the fan cowlingdownstream of the heat exchanger in the air supply direction; aplurality of upper air passages arranged at a lower region of thesealing part; and a plurality of lower air passages arranged at an upperregion of the sealing part and arranged spatially opposite to the upperair passages, wherein an opening of each of the upper and lower airpassages is sized such that: in a direction perpendicular to the airsupply direction is at least 0.025 of the diameter of the fan; and in adirection of the air supply, is at least 0.0025 of the diameter of thefan.
 11. A motor vehicle, comprising: a heat exchanger; a fanarrangement for the heat exchanger, the fan arrangement including: a fancowling spaced from the heat exchanger in an air supply direction andwhich covers an air passage area of the heat exchanger; a sealing partwhich couples the fan cowling to the heat exchanger; a fan arranged inthe fan cowling downstream of the heat exchanger in the air supplydirection; a plurality of upper air passages arranged at a lower regionof the sealing part; and a plurality of lower air passages arranged atan upper region of the sealing part and arranged spatially opposite tothe upper air passages, wherein an opening of each of the upper andlower air passages is sized such that: in a direction perpendicular tothe air supply direction is at least 0.025 of the diameter of the fan;and in a direction of the air supply, is at least 0.0025 of the diameterof the fan
 12. The motor vehicle of claim 11, wherein the upper airpassages are arranged spatially above fan.
 13. The motor vehicle ofclaim 11, wherein the lower air passages are arranged spatially belowfan.
 14. The motor vehicle of claim 11, wherein: the upper air passagesare arranged spatially above fan; and the lower air passages arearranged spatially below fan.
 15. The motor vehicle of claim 11, whereinthe openings of adjacent upper air passages part have different sizesand/or shapes.
 16. The motor vehicle of claim 11, wherein the openingsof adjacent lower air passages part have different sizes and/or shapes.17. The motor vehicle of claim 11, wherein: the openings of adjacentupper air passages part have different sizes and/or shapes; and theopenings of adjacent upper air passages part have different sizes and/orshapes
 18. The motor vehicle of claim 11, wherein the opening of each ofthe upper and lower air passages is sized such that in a directionperpendicular to the air supply direction is at a maximum of 1/10 of thediameter of the fan.
 19. The motor vehicle of claim 11, wherein theopening of each of the upper and lower air passages have an areaproportion of at least 0.0000625 of an air passage area of the fan.